Description of Business and Accounting Policies - Additional Information (Detail) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) Segment	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of principal segments | Segment	3
Allowance for returns	$ 156	$ 153	$ 147
Additions to allowance for returns	1,500	1,300	1,100
Deductions to allowance for returns	1,500	1,300	1,100
Advertising and other promotional costs	5,000	3,800	3,300
Foreign currency transaction gain (loss)	21	(266)	(127)
Gain (Loss) on Warrant Assets	67	0	(5)
Marketable securities realized gain (loss)	(8)	(5)	3
Undistributed earnings of foreign subsidiaries that are indefinitely invested outside of the U.S	2,800
Accounts receivable, net and other	8,339	5,654
Allowance for doubtful accounts	237	189	190
Additions to allowance for doubtful accounts	451	289	225
Deductions to allowance for doubtful accounts	403	290	188
Capitalized costs associated with internal-use software and website development	511	642	641
Capitalized costs associated with internal-use software and website development, share-based compensation	94	114	104
Capitalized costs associated with internal-use software and website development, amortization of previously capitalized amounts	$ 634	635	559
Estimated useful lives of assets description	Depreciation is recorded on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful lives of the assets
Unredeemed gift certificates	$ 2,400	2,000
Unredeemed gift certificates, period of recognition	2 years
Unearned revenue, noncurrent	$ 499	244
Transaction gains (losses) arising from foreign currency transactions	62	(215)	$ (98)
Customer receivables
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Accounts receivable, net and other	3,900	2,300
Seller receivables
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Accounts receivable, net and other	661	337
Vendor receivables
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Accounts receivable, net and other	$ 2,000	1,800
Internal-use software and website development
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Estimated useful lives of assets	2 years
Building
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Estimated useful lives of assets	40 years
Servers
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Estimated useful lives of assets	3 years
Networking Equipment
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Estimated useful lives of assets	5 years
Furniture and Fixtures
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Estimated useful lives of assets	5 years
Heavy Equipment
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Estimated useful lives of assets	10 years
Video and Music Content | Minimum
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Video and music content licensing agreements term	1 year
Video and music content amortization period	1 year
Video and Music Content | Maximum
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Video and music content licensing agreements term	7 years
Video and music content amortization period	7 years
Level 2 Securities
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Warrants and Rights Outstanding	$ 223	$ 16